Charges Filed in Stock Options Backdating Case

The U.S. attorney in San Francisco accused two former Brocade Communications Systems Inc. executives of routinely giving options to employees from 2000 to 2004 at terms that guaranteed an immediate paper gain for the recipients. University of Iowa Professor ERIK LIE, whose 2005 study pointed to widespread backdating of options, has estimated that hundreds of companies may have engaged in the practice as they sought to reward employees.